Remote Employees? Here are Three Tools Designed to Help

April 24, 2017

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Across the enterprise, the telecommuting trend is increasing. According to a recent Gallup poll, there has been a 37 percent rise in telecommuting over the last decade. On average, U.S. workers are telecommuting rather than going into the office two days per month, with 9% of workers telecommuting more than 10 days a month—or half of all working days. In spite of this, many organizations don’t offer tools and applications designed to optimize remote worker productivity. With the rise of virtual offices and dispersed employees, there’s clearly a need for tools that empower remote workers to do their jobs more effectively.

Solid communication and transparency go a long way to forging better connections across teams, as well as between employees and management. It’s now easier than ever to find tools and technology that foster more timely communication and stronger relationships with co-workers and global teams. Here are three tools that are big difference makers for remote employees.

Superior Project Management

When you’re working remote, having all of your work assignments and progress organized, documented, and accessible has never been more important. Staying organized and on task is a key component to help maximize productivity. That’s why our team likes Basecamp. Basecamp keeps assigned tasks, their requestors, and their owners together in one, easily accessible place. It’s easy to add new projects, assign tasks, and join discussions while contributing to the ongoing workflow. With this tool, remote workers will stay connected to the people, projects, and files that matter.

Easier Video Meetings

Regular, face-to-face communications and more effective meetings keep remote workers feeling connected and in the loop. BlueJeans, a global, video communications platform, enables better meeting experiences across the workplace. By connecting traditionally incompatible video endpoints, BlueJeans lets anyone easily host multi-party video meetings from a desktop, mobile device or conference room system. With integrations like Slack and Hipchat, a BlueJeans video meeting can be launched right from within many of the most popular tools. From easy scheduling, simple click-to-join meetings, and IT management features, BlueJeans makes hosting and managing video meetings easy.

Transparent File Management

Having a single, transparent platform where all employees can create, transfer, and store files is transforming the way work gets done and information is shared. Google Docs makes it easy to sync files, message, and collaborate with virtually anyone, anywhere. Docs organizes and consolidates all of your team’s documents, spreadsheets, and other files on one platform. Instead of sifting through emails for the latest attachments, employees simply scroll through time-stamped, organized lists of documents and worksheets. For a more robust, enterprise-grade solution, Box offers a platform where employees anywhere can access, edit, comment, and share files in real time from any device. By delivering the latest security, mobility, and product integrations, Box has built their platform to meet the demands of enterprise customers.

As the number of telecommuters grow, businesses need to empower and support their workforce in order to optimize productivity and engagement. By simply harnessing smarter, more collaborative tools, the time to foster better connections and drive better results has arrived.